By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS
Kathmandu : Nepal’s Election Commission (EC) Sunday postponed the timetable for the November polls to avert clashes involving Maoist guerrillas after marathon talks between the ruling parties and the Maoists failed to end the election deadlock.
The poll panel agreed to defer the date for the filing of first nominations by five days as a former minister’s followers began preparations to picket all EC offices in the Terai plains and the Maoists too geared up for similar measures to prevent the parties from filing nominations for the election.
However, the poll panel, which has been showing remarkable firmness and independence, refused to completely heed the government’s request to extend a second date by five more days. It instead deferred it by 72 hours. The proposed election will decide if Nepal should stay a monarchy or become a republic.
The reprieve comes as a face-saving device for Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, whose government is set on a collision course with the Maoists.
The powerful Young Communist League of the Maoists stepped up its campaign from Saturday to disrupt work at the EC and prevent contestants from filing the first set of nominations Sunday.
The rebels have got an unexpected new ally in Rajendra Mahato, who quit as the commerce, industries and supplies minister Saturday and announced his opposition to the polls.
Mahato, a leader from the turbulent Terai plains in south Nepal, resigned after the EC declared the dissident faction in his Nepal Sadbhavana Party the bona fide party.
Now Mahato, arrested and released after staging a protest against the verdict, has begun a fresh campaign against Girija Prasad Koirala’s government.
The Mahato faction had pledged to picket all EC offices in the Terai Sunday to prevent parties from filing the first nominations. It has also called a three-day general strike in the Terai from Oct 4 to thwart the second date for filing the second set of nominations falling Oct 5.
The Maoists too announced a similar protest programme in September when they walked out of the government. The guerrillas are demanding the immediate abolition of monarchy and introduction of a fully proportional representation system for the Nov 22 election.
However, the demands are being strongly resisted by Koirala and his Nepali Congress party.
The prime minister has refused to let parliament seal King Gyanendra’s fate, demanding that this should be done through an election. Neither is he ready to budge from the mixed system adopted for the November polls.
Four days of parleys between the ruling parties and the Maoists that continued till Sunday morning failed to resolve the impasse.
Finally, in a frantic bid to avert clashes that would have seriously questioned the ability of the government to hold the polls, the alliance asked the EC to postpone the two dates for filing nominations. It is now hoping to buy time and cobble an understanding with the Maoists.
Despite the reprieve, the government also has a second time bomb ticking away.
The Maoists last week formally sent a demand for a special session of parliament, where they would move a motion for ousting King Gyanendra from his 238-year-old throne.
Nepal’s constitution demands that on receiving such a request, the prime minister call the session within 15 days.
After a 10-year-old Maoist uprising that killed over 13,000 people, Nepal hoped for peace and stability when the rebels signed a peace pact last year and agreed to take part in the election.
However, now the fate of the polls, regarded as vital for restoring peace, is in jeopardy with the Maoists threatening to disrupt them unless they have their way.
Besides the rebels, several dissident groups have also been waging war against the exercise, saying their demands have to be addressed first.
The Koirala government faces its biggest challenge over the polls, which have been deferred twice. The international community has warned that the government would lose its legitimacy if it fails to hold the November election.